For investors concerned about what will affect the long-term growth of their portfolio, it can be difficult to focus on the right issues. Most financial news stories are produced for traders and others in the financial industry who are interested in daily market movements. After all, their paychecks can depend on what goes up and what goes down. But for long-term investors, the implications of what’s happening can be very different. Here are a few interesting—and perhaps counter-intuitive—ideas for long-term investors to keep in mind amid the din of financial markets:

Stock market volatility—how much the market goes up and down on a daily basis—has recently been unusually low. Since July of last year the S&P 500 index of large US stocks has gone either up or down by more than 1% on only about 12% of trading days, compared to a historical average of more than 20%.